The Architecture of Trees

by Cesare Leonardi, Franca Stagi

The Architecture of Trees is a legendary and unsurpassed botanical masterwork.This lavish large-format volume features more than 400 exquisite quill-pen illustrations of 211 tree species. Each is drawn to a scale of 1:100, with and without foliage, complete with tables of seasonal color variations and projections of shadows cast during the hours of daylight and season by season. L'Architettura degli Alberi, first published in 1982, has been out of print for two decades. This is the first Englishlanguage edition of a landmark study that took more than twenty years to complete. This gorgeous book is an essential addition to the library of architects, designers, botanists, and anyone fascinated by trees and by nature in all its varieties.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Art, Architecture, Science, Coffee Table Books, Design

Paperback

Published November 15, 2006

Reviews

[notgettingenough · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took advantage of spotting this in a shop yesterday to look at it. A hell of a lot of trees, both clothed and naked so you can see their structure. It's massive and definitely wasn't going in my suitcase for the homeward bound trip, but I can see it would be an indispensible reference. Not a coffee table book.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although very detailed and provided vast selections of trees, there weren’t any actual pictures; only detailed drawings of trees. And it provides the scientific names of trees, not the common names.

Still, an excellent resource book but not at all what I was looking forward to satisfying my love of pictorial aspects of trees.

[Ann KK]

mesmerizing

[Nicole Renee Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very expensive and very large book that is possibly one of my favorites. It has zero descriptions of the plants, just genus, and species organized by angiosperms and gymnosperms. It is a compilation of drawings of how these trees look in black and white to a 1:100 scale. It is gorgeous and it also made me take out my other plant books (including Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs), and read about each species that I could find. I spent every weekend slowly working my way through this book in some mad self-imposed research assignment.

I have one main goal for 2022, and that is to learn all of the names (common and genus names) of the trees in this area. This book was a beautiful catalyst to this goal. It's a rare book that I read and wish I had made it, but there you have it, I am jealous of the illustrators. I also show off this book to house guests. My love for this book is insufferable.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

An encyclopedic journey among trees, each presented in the same scale, drawn in pen-and-ink from individual, carefully photographed from specimen trees. Each presented in summer and in winter.

The introduction includes an eye-opening history of botanical illustration, and the methodology for development of the catalog of trees represents a lifetime of devotion.

The book as an artifact is impeccably printed and bound, of highest quality materials. Print quality of the images is nothing short of perfection.

Though this is decidedly not a book I feel any need to add to my personal library, it would be an essential element in the resources of a landscape architect.

[Audrey Tang · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am absolutely obsessed with all facets of this book, but I have to take one star off for the American sycamore illustration. It's my favorite tree and I just felt a little personally wronged... Other illustrations were amazing though.

[Stephanie Kesler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnificent, eccentric, thorough, tome.